England and Croatia repeat the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup to start their participation in the day of EURO 2020 on Sunday. This match will take place before North Macedonia makes its debut in a major tournament against Austria and the Netherlands face Ukraine, in which it will be the return of the Dutch after missing out on the 2018 World Cup.
Get ready for an exciting match at Wembley, where it will be special to see Mason Mount take on Luka Modrić. Mount spoke on Friday of his admiration for a player with whom he swapped the jersey during Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League semi-final victory over Real Madrid. “It helps to be a fan of a player and play against him, because you know what he likes to do,” Mount said. Knowing and doing are two very different things, of course, but it gives England hope that they can avoid a repeat defeat in the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final, when Croatia completely controlled midfield.
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Key fact: Their overtime win against England three summers ago in Russia was one of only three Croatian victories against the English in a total of ten games in which the two sides have met. Furthermore, since that World Cup, Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić has only been able to line up the same players once in 29 games.
The preview of the great game England – Croatia
18.00CET: Austria v North Macedonia (Group C, Bucharest)
Austria beat North Macedonia twice in qualifying for this same tournament, winning 1-4 in Skopje and 2-1 in Vienna. That last game was in November 2019, however, Igor Angelovski’s side is a different team now after having racked up an eight-match unbeaten streak that spanned 2019 and 2020. Also, their confidence levels increased with a surprising qualifying victory against Germany in March. Their aim here will be to show that their debut in a major finals is not by chance, while Austria will be looking to achieve that long-awaited first EURO victory, in what will be the team’s third finals.
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Key fact: North Macedonia is the 35th country to qualify for a UEFA European Championship, as well as the last to do so, and together with Finland (the 34th addition) it is one of two rookie nations participating in this competition.
Duel between cinderellas
21:00CET: Netherlands v Ukraine (Group C, Amsterdam)
This first match is something new for both the Netherlands and Ukraine, as these teams have never met in an official tournament. There is the possibility that both teams will take the field in a 5-3-2 formation, the system preferred by the Dutch coach, Frank de Boer, perhaps against the majority of Dutch opinions, and also used by Ukraine when the Sinios -Zhovti tied their qualifying match in March against France in Saint-Denis.
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—Meet the teams: Holland–
Interestingly, Andriy Shevchenko himself is a supporter of the Dutch-style 4-3-3, although the Ukrainian coach could opt for a more conservative approach. “We can play 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, but our principles will not change,” explained the Ukraine coach. Meanwhile, the center of the Dutch defensive quintet could count on 19-year-old Jurriën Timber, who will help 38-year-old goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to try to clean the Dutch goal.
Key fact: This is the Netherlands’ first major tournament since it was third at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as the Dutch missed EURO 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. The last time the Dutch came out of a similar football hibernation, they won their only international title so far, EURO 88, after an eight-year absence that spanned three major competitions.
